FRIENDS MOURN LOSS OF AREA SHOP OWNER

Jeffrey Bils, Tribune Staff WriterCHICAGO TRIBUNE

A day after someone shot Chae Kwon So in the head and left his body on the floor of his Rogers Park electronics shop, prayers and weeping filled his North Side apartment, where friends and family gathered Saturday to mourn.

The 39-year-old, who came to the U.S. from South Korea in 1986, owned and operated the electronics sales and repair store for about a year and a half. He dreamed of building his business and moving to a safer location, said his friend Sun Kim of Glenview.

"He worked about 12 hours a day, every day," Kim said. "This destroyed his American dream."

Only three days earlier, So's mother, Yang Soon Kim, had arrived from South Korea for her first visit with her son since he moved to the United States. He was killed before she had a chance to recover from jet lag, Sun Kim said. So leaves behind his wife, Un Chu So, and a 5-year-old son, Steve.

Police said two customers found So's body about 2:45 p.m. Friday in his store, C&K Electronics, 1540 W. Howard St.

Sgt. Pat Leonard of the Belmont Area violent crimes division said police have no motive in the killing.

The two customers who found So's body near the back of the store ran to Sandy's Food, a grocery in the same building, where the owner called the police.

One of the customers who discovered So had dropped off a stereo two hours earlier, police said.

"It's dangerous to be alone, especially at Christmas," when many people want extra money, said Sam Salaita, who has owned Sandy's Food for three years. He said So had been working alone.

"He was a good person," Salaita said. "He would come in here every day, almost. I always asked him, `How is business?' He'd say, `Slow.' "

After So came to the United States to seek a better life, he spent about a year in Massachusetts, where his sister lives, said one of his friends from childhood, Sung Kim of Hillside.

Sung Kim said he helped So get settled when So moved to Chicago in 1987. So painted houses and worked in an electronics store before opening his own store, Kim said.

"He's a very diligent man, a family man," Sung Kim said as he gathered with others at So's apartment several miles from the store, in an area just north of Lawrence Avenue.

So's parents, two brothers and another sister live in Korea.

"He knew the place was little, a danger. He was hoping to move," Sung Kim said of So's store.

Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday in the Benson & Park Funeral Home, 3224 W. Montrose Ave. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the Korean Catholic Church, 4115 N. Kedvale Ave.